Siobhan Fahey

I was a Rebel Dyke in the 1980s, living in Berlin, NY, SF and London as a punk, lesbian and sex worker. It was my idea to start collecting the archive belonging to this subculture, and I brought the director’s into the project, thus becoming the film’s Producer.

As the 80s finished I became a volunteer in an AIDS project, which inspired me to train to be a nurse. By the time I qualified, the health crisis affecting my community was Hepatitis C, and my specialism in that led me to lead the biggest Hepatitis public health strategy in the UK. I was also a queer activist, and a queer club promoter in Manchester. By the time I was hitting my 50s I needed a change, so retrained as a filmmaker. My first short film garnered a BAFTA, I have completed an excellent MA in Filmmaking at the University of West of Scotland, and I now run a production company, Riot Productions, that specialises in provocative, activist, commercial content. Rebel Dykes was my first feature film, and although it took 6 long hard years to produce, it has also been wonderful. I have particularly loved the work of the Rebel Dykes History Project, building and re-building the Rebel Dyke community with gatherings, a film club and community facebook pages.

I have loved reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. Working on this film has been a great privilege.